In oilfield operations, tubulars such as drill pipe and casing are run into a wellbore. The tubulars are generally run into the wellbore as “stands.” Each stand includes several, for example, three lengths or “joints” of the tubulars made up together, end-on-end. The stand is made up to the tubular string already deployed, and lowered into the wellbore for attachment to the next stand. Running in of multiple joints at once as part of the stand reduces the amount of time taken to connect the joints together, since there are fewer joints that must be made up during run-in or disassembled during removal of the tubulars from the wellbore.
Prior to deploying the stands, or after they are removed from the wellbore, the stands may be stored in a vertical orientation in a pipe rack. The process of storing the stands in the pipe rack may be known as “racking back” the stand. Each stand can be run into the wellbore, removed from the wellbore (“tripped out”), and racked back multiple times, so long as the stands are not excessively damaged during use.
Load transfer sleeves are sometimes employed to provide a connection with the stands. Such load transfer sleeves can be a designed to be received around a tubular and bear against an upset along the stand. Upsets are generally provided by a collar, a lift nubbin, or an increased diameter area where the box-end connection is formed. In other cases, the load transfer sleeve may include slips that bite into the tubulars. In either case, the stand may be hoisted, e.g., via a spreader bar or an elevator coupled with the load transfer sleeve.
In various applications, slips may be avoided for use with the load transfer sleeves. The radial gripping force applied by the slips is proportional to the weight of the tubular being supported. However, the tubular gripped by the slips may be part of a stand that is made up to a string of tubulars already run into the wellbore. Once made up, the entire weight of the string may be applied to the slips, which can result in the slips applying an excessive gripping force on the tubular, which can damage the tubular.
The load transfer sleeves that bear on an upset, however, may be specific to the size of the tubular and/or the size of the upset upon which they bear. Further, such load transfer sleeves may require manual handling, e.g., to receive a hinged transfer sleeve around the tubular and latch it below the upset. Thus, in some cases, attaching the load transfer sleeve to the tubular stand may be required to be done while the load transfer sleeve is in a horizontal configuration, which may require further manipulation of the stand when the stand is already racked back in a vertical orientation.